Portrait of a Woman (Olga Shoofs) 1907

Ilya Repin painted this portrait of Olga Shoofs with oils, sometime around 1907. Look at the way he's built up the image, particularly in the sitter's white dress. There's this sense of almost drawing with the brush, creating texture and light with individual strokes. It reminds me of Cezanne, in how each dab of paint feels deliberate, contributing to the overall structure. Then there's that poppy in her hair, such a simple dash of pure red that completely holds the composition together. It's like a full stop, a punctuation mark that adds depth and clarity. It's these details, these small but impactful choices, that make the work sing. It suggests an approach to artmaking as a process of construction, a dialogue between intention and chance. It's not about perfection but about the energy and immediacy of the moment. Repin reminds me a bit of someone like Manet, capturing a similar sense of bourgeois life with a touch of rebellious flair. Art is always an ongoing conversation, isn’t it? A back-and-forth of ideas across time.